TaPRA Postgraduate Symposium 2026: Nothing to be Done(?)

In a moment such as this, marked by escalating conflicts across continents, unprecedented levels of forced displacement, and ecological systems undergoing irreversible breakdown, that is likely to be remembered for ages as one of profound moral crises, we must ask: what, if anything, can theatre and performance research do for the world, for us?

What does it mean to continue the work of theatre and performance today, to analyse performances, to engage concepts, to argue over gaps and methods, to theorise about ethics, inclusion and representation, when elsewhere the world is structured by forces that admit no such subtlety? Where do our finely tuned critical vocabularies sit alongside the spectacle of war? What becomes of our nuanced discussions on gesture, presence, embodiment, relationality, and affect, when, in times such as these, lives (and deaths) are measured and tallied, counted out, one by one, as numbers? In our scholarship, is this continued attention to finer details an honest form of care, a refusal on our part to give up on making sense of the world? Or is it a way, perhaps, of (un?)intentionally deferring more direct forms of engagement?

Is there truly nothing to be done? Are we all, in some sense, suspended in a kind of critical impasse, circling the same questions, returning to the same uncertainties, rehearsing for revolutions that like Godot may never arrive? Or might there still be forms of resistance available to us, a way of “taking (the proverbial) arms against a sea of troubles” within the limited capacities of postgraduate researchers?

Without denying the fear and anxieties surrounding the possible futility of such academic labour in times such as these, we invite you to the 2026 TaPRA Postgraduate Symposium. Let us think of this, perhaps, as a modest intervention, a space to think together, to sit with these questions, and to consider what, if anything, might still be possible within the often precarious conditions of theatre research, and more specifically, postgraduate theatre research.

FREE LUNCH INCLUDED

We want to talk.

So, to spark lively exchange and meaningful dialogue, this year’s symposium is built around dynamic discursive panels that bring together a diverse range of research perspectives. Each session features concise 5‑minute snapshots of work, setting the stage for an engaging 40‑minute conversation designed to generate ideas and foster collaboration.

This event will be both in person and online as a webinar, so if you are keen to join the conversation, in-person attendance is essential.

Online participants will be able to ask questions via text only.

If you intend to join online, sign up and let us know.

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